Call for councillors to fight incinerator plan
Councillors have been urged to back an anti-incinerator campaign and plead with the Government to prevent it from operating
By Bill Edgar, Local democracy reporter
Councillors have been urged to back an anti-incinerator campaign and plead with the Government to prevent it from operating.
An appeal has been tabled for Durham County Council to join residents in opposing an environmental permit application for the proposed facility in Newton Aycliffe.
Developer Fornax has built the incinerator in Merchant Way, Newton Aycliffe, and is set to open the site pending final approval.
Around 10,500 tonnes of waste would be incinerated per year at the site in Aycliffe Business Park, but the company previously insisted there were “no environmental health or amenity issues”.
The Environment Agency will consider the permit application later this year, which would allow Fornax to send hazardous and clinical waste into the air from a large 100ft chimney.
But Liberal Democrat councillor Michael Stead, of Aycliffe North and Middridge ward, said the proposed incinerator is “completely inappropriate and would cause significant harm to the surrounding community”.
The motion, tabled ahead of next week’s full council meeting, requests that the council write a letter to the Government, calling for them to reject a permit for the facility.
Cllr Stead’s plea to the council comes amid growing opposition from the “STOP Heighington Lane Incinerator” campaign group.
The facility is located just a short distance from schools, care homes, and playgrounds, with the UTC South Durham and Little Clubs Nursery nearby. “If this goes ahead, a 12-mile radius could be facing decades of exposure to harmful pollutants, many invisible and long-lasting,” campaigners said.
Gary Wallace, area environment manager in the North East, said: “Our regulatory controls are in place to protect people and the environment and we will carry out a detailed and rigorous assessment of Fornax’s permit application.
“We may only refuse a permit application if it does not meet the legal requirements under environmental legislation, including if it will have an unacceptable impact on the environment or harm human health.
“We understand there is local interest in the proposed site, and we welcome comments from the public and interested groups on environmental factors that people feel are important.”
A public consultation on the permit application is open until July 18 here.